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Hey everyone,
Our turnout at Regatta Point here in Canberra was small but the event was still a lot of fun. Our society, the ANU Black Hole Society (I am the Vice President) had about 15 of our members along throughout the night. Two Canberra Astronomical Society members also joined us, John Blank and Andrew White (President). Andrew brought his family along and the kids had a great time looking through my telescope. I brought the 10 inch meade. One of our BHS members also made it a family affair and brought along his two adorable kids. There was a lot of "Daddy, daddy can I have a look yet?". One kid exclaimed: "Look, the moon's getting eaten." I asked him who was eating it and he said, "the monsters! We have to stop them and squish them!" (or something to that effect. Sometimes I don't quite understand what the lil ones are saying :p). I have to thank John from CAS for answering all people's questions as they waited for me to centre the moon time and time again. That was really good of him dealing with the public for us, so a great big thank you to him (I'm not sure if he's a member of IIS but I'll publicly acknowledge him anyway).
We also had a few members of the public wanting a look through my telescope which was a great feeling. I had a lot of "wow's" and "ooh, that's amazing". There were also a few smaller groups of people set up along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin with their cameras and binoculars.
I nearly had a heart attack though when I saw one guy (I think he was from my society...) trying to move my telescope (which had the dec and RA locks on by the way) to centre the moon again. I asked him if he would like me to move it for him...never again will I turn my back on my scope.
The weather was great for the duration of the eclipse. There might have been some very high, very light cloud but it was not very noticeable. There was also a light wind which actually blurred the image very slightly at times. But other than that, it was a nice, clear night.
So that was the night for our club. I'd say it went well. I had a great time. What an eclipse! I'll never forget it; it was my first one ever. I hope everyone else had a great time and enjoyed themselves as well.
Clear skies,
Silvie
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